Young veteran flies to new horizons

Monday

Jun 11, 2012 at 12:01 AM

A myriad of decisions leading up to one fateful step changed Cpl. Jessie Fletcher's life.

BY REBEKAH CANSLER MCGEEThe Dispatch

A myriad of decisions leading up to one fateful step changed Cpl. Jessie Fletcher's life.After treading on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan and losing both his legs, the once avid runner began the process of learning to walk with prosthesis. Less than a year later Fletcher defied the memory of that day and climbed to new heights flying a Cessna small passenger plane for the first time.Fletcher, a scout sniper with the U.S. Marine Corps, joined the military right after high school in 2008. He was one of nine siblings and had always wanted to protect his family by being a Marine. Becoming a scout sniper was his dream that he saw become a reality at a very young age—23.“Some boys want to be an astronaut, some boys wanted to be a rock star, and I always wanted to be a scout sniper,” Fletcher said.Oct. 17, 2011, dawned. Fletcher and his team were in Afghanistan. They were going to scout the valley below by taking refuge in a ruined building. The team knew the region was littered with the Taliban. Fletcher found three improvised explosive devices before his next steps changed his life when he didn't see the fourth. He lost both legs above the knee and fingers from both left and right hand. He lost hearing on his left side and had to have ear drum replacement surgery. He was airlifted to Germany where he was stabilized before flying home to Bethesda, Md., to begin rehabilitation.“When we got back here (America) the first person I saw was Emily,” Fletcher said.Emily Ball was Fletcher's girlfriend of almost a year. They met at a military ball in November 2010 that Emily attended with one of her friends. Their one year dating “anniversary” was celebrated in the hospital with Georgetown Cupcakes. After Fletcher's injury, Ball moved to Maryland to be with him.Recovery and rehabilitation has become a full-time job. Fletcher rises every morning at 6:30 a.m. and doesn't stop rehabilitation until 4 p.m. He treats his recovery like his new job, and he knows the best way to get better is to stay at the hospital and work hard.Describing the difficulty of learning to walk again doesn't come easy for Fletcher. He likened using prosthesis to walking on his knees as there is no foot or shin to lessen the impact.“Learning to walk again is an exceptional challenge because it's something I used to associate myself with as a part of my identity. I had my own personal walk … my own stride. I ran every day, and now learning to walk again is a new challenge; it's a new way to make it personal—to put a positive spin on it.”After months of rehabilitation, Fletcher and Ball had to return to the area for her job. She is employed with a law firm in Winston-Salem that allowed her to work remotely while she lived in Maryland with Fletcher. Once rehabilitation is complete, Fletcher and Ball plan to move to the area. Jackie Eldrenkamp and her co-workers, who worked at US Airways with Ball's aunt, had been sending Fletcher care packages from the time he was deployed. The day the couple came to Davidson County, Ball had to work and told Eldrenkamp she and her husband, Dave, could “kidnap” Fletcher for the day.Trying to find something fun, Dave had seen a sign at the Davidson County Airport for High Rock Lake flight tours. When Fletcher and the couple arrived at the airport for their scheduled tour, Tom Winnett, the flight instructor, spent a lot of time talking with Fletcher. Winnett asked him if he had ever thought about flying.“I had no idea I was going to be flying. I thought I was just going to get a private tour from the back of the plane and then they threw me in the front seat, and I'm in the cockpit, ready to roll—to take off. I was like ‘this is the coolest thing ever.' It's something I've always wanted to do,” said Fletcher and chuckled. “And I was doing it; I was doing it good, too.”Jackie admires his never-ending smile and incredible drive. “I like to say he's not just a Marine; he's a machine. I've never met anyone like him.”When the lesson ended and the passenger plane landed, Fletcher logged his first flight hours. This was the first of many hours as Fletcher wants to get his pilot's license one day. He also has plans to become a businessman and then one day, a doctor. “Someone once said the sky is the limit. I don't believe that; man has walked on the moon,” Fletcher said.

Rebekah Cansler McGee can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228, or rebekah.mcgee@the-dispatch.com.

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